President’s party tends to fare poorly in midterm elections

Jeff Malo / November 7th, 2018

The US Midterms resulted in Democrats taking of the House of Representatives, while the Republicans held control of the Senate
(Pexels)

The U.S. midterm elections have come and gone and most of the results are in.

Before Tuesday’s elections, Republicans held control of both the House and Senate, but now the Democrats are the majority party in the House, while the Republicans held and increased their lead in the Senate.

This election saw some historic firsts, including two Muslim and one indigenous women elected to the House, as well as the first openly gay Governor in Colorado.

When looking back at midterm election results, the change of parties in the House is nothing new.

Since George Bush Sr. held the Oval Office, control of the House has flipped from one political party to the other.

“I think that swings are a natural part, of when they get more of what they want and then they think they want less of that” – Steve Weldon, Political Science Professor at SFU

“I think it’s fair to interpret last night’s election results as a referendum as on Trump’s cultural policies and immigration policies and his rhetoric and the vilification of outsiders” – Steve Weldon, Political Science Professor at SFU

Weldon says that there are at least two reasons why this might be the case. One reason is that people are unhappy with who ever is in power. And another is that their needs to be a pendulum shift to keep a sort of balance of power.